Armadillo Ale Works Needs Votes for $25,000 Grant

Armadillo Ale Works out of Denton (although until they get their own brewery, out of Deep Ellum Brewing Co.) needs a little help with the heavy lifting. They've entered a contest through FedEx Small Business for a $25,000 grant that would do wonders for the company.

Yiannis "Yanni" Arestis and Bobby Mullins started brewing in their garage and have been slowing pulling together the makings of a brewery for quite some time now. It's an expensive endeavor, though. In 2012, Deep Ellum Brewing Co. opened their doors to the brewers so they could get their beer on the market. But still, there's no place like home, especially when you don't have one.

This week you can help with that. Arestis and Mullins have applied for a small business grant through a contest with FedEx. The top prize is $25,000, and there are also a few smaller cash prizes. They'd like to use the money to invest in a brewery in Denton: "This grant will get us closer to opening our doors and could be the last bit of funding we needed to give the city of Denton its first craft brewery."

Voting for the preliminaries is through this Sunday, February 23. FedEx will announce 100 finalists on February 26. The grand prize winner isn't based solely on votes, but it helps.

Right now Armadillo Ale Works has two beers in their regular rotation; the rich and dark Quakertown Stout and lighter summer affair Greenbelt Farmhouse Ale.